SynthesisBMC medical education2024
The effectiveness of virtual reality training on knowledge, skills and attitudes of health care professionals and students in assessing and treating mental health disorders: a systematic review.
Synthesis in BMC medical education, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The use of virtual reality in forensic-correctional psychiatric settings: A systematic review.Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences · 2026Pooled it
- The effectiveness of virtual reality training on knowledge, skills and attitudes of health care professionals and students in assessing and treating mental health disorders: a systematic review.BMC medical education · 2024Pooled it
- Enhancing Therapist Training in the Delivery of Exposure Therapy for Individuals with Anxiety Disorders Using Virtual Reality Simulation: Randomized Feasibility Trial.JMIR medical education · 2026Trial
- Maladaptive exercise: the hidden role of physical activity and sport professionals in the early detection of eating disorders.Journal of eating disorders · 2026Article
- Collaboration During Crisis: New Graduates' Experiences of Interprofessional Practice During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Health care analysis : HCA : journal of health philosophy and policy · 2025Article
- The combined impact of AI and VR on interdisciplinary learning and patient safety in healthcare education: a narrative review.BMC medical education · 2025Review
- Effect of virtual reality educational program on critical thinking disposition among nursing students in Egypt: a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design.BMC nursing · 2025Article
- Virtual reality-based training for radiopharmaceutical administration: development and educational effectiveness.PloS one · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundVirtual reality (VR) training can enhance health professionals' learning. However, there are ambiguous findings on the effectiveness of VR as an educational tool in mental health. We therefore reviewed the existing literature on the effectiveness of VR training on health professionals' knowledge, skills, and attitudes in assessing and treating patients with mental health disorders.
methodsWe searched MEDLINE, PsycINFO (via Ovid), the Cochrane Library, ERIC, CINAHL (on EBSCOhost), Web of Science Core Collection, and the Scopus database for studies published from January 1985 to July 2023. We included all studies evaluating the effect of VR training interventions on attitudes, knowledge, and skills pertinent to the assessment and treatment of mental health disorders and published in English or Scandinavian languages. The quality of the evidence in randomized controlled trials was assessed with the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool 2.0. For non-randomized studies, we assessed the quality of the studies with the ROBINS-I tool.
resultsOf 4170 unique records identified, eight studies were eligible. The four randomized controlled trials were assessed as having some concern or a high risk of overall bias. The four non-randomized studies were assessed as having a moderate to serious overall risk of bias. Of the eight included studies, four used a virtual standardized patient design to simulate training situations, two studies used interactive patient scenario training designs, while two studies used a virtual patient game design. The results suggest that VR training interventions can promote knowledge and skills acquisition.
conclusionsThe findings indicate that VR interventions can effectively train health care personnel to acquire knowledge and skills in the assessment and treatment of mental health disorders. However, study heterogeneity, prevalence of small sample sizes, and many studies with a high or serious risk of bias suggest an uncertain evidence base. Future research on the effectiveness of VR training should include assessment of immersive VR training designs and a focus on more robust studies with larger sample sizes.
trial registrationThis review was pre-registered in the Open Science Framework register with the ID-number Z8EDK.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.